January 2021: What I bought this month

Another month another spend report. This of course will be a no-buy month edition. If you read my previous post (re buying less and low-buys) then you already know that I am making a conscious choice to buy less this year mainly in the clothing category. Because of this, my spend reports may look a lot different than it usually does but I plan on continuing this series in order to really do a deep dive into what I purchase each month and perhaps if you are in the market for any of these items I can provide a little but of guidance:.

Because, I kicked this year off with a no-buy, there is very little to report on. I encourage you to do the same each month and have a look at your VISA history or your debit account to see what you spent and what changes you can make next month.

Ok, I purchased a few things for my iPad early this month. I received a new iPad for Christmas and I got really excited and went a little overboard on accessories. Each of the purchases I made for my iPad were well worth it and I use each every day (aside from the stylus).

I purchased an Ipad case – I am a butterfingers and I am the type of person to hang onto and use my electronics for well beyond its recommend life. I do this by making sure I protect the item so a case is critical. I like this one from amazon which is a soft gelly one (so no cracking) and it has a screen cover that doubles as a stand.

I also purchased a stand for my iPad. This is also something that is so important and really handy especially if you use your iPad in the kitchen for recipes, to watch videos or to do workouts. I know that the case I got also doubles as a stand but using an actual stand is more secure and sturdy. It also frees up space especially if you’re limited in counter space in the kitchen for example. And, if you end up spilling something on your countertop (where your iPad may be situated) you won’t have to worry about it getting damaged with the stand because it is elevated.

Lastly, I got this stylus pen after reading a lot of reviews I decided to opt for this over the actual apple version because I really just needed it for note-taking purposes. If you’re planning to use the stylus for hand-lettering or for more “design” purposes then you may want to get the apple version as the amazon version does not sense pressure. However, for my purposes it is perfect!

Aside from these purchases, everything else I purchased were subscriptions or groceries (nothing exciting at all), here is the breakdown for transparency and context:

$593 for groceries – this is definitely higher than usual (thanks to my experimenting with our airfryer) and the instacarting groceries this month (there are only two of us at home so we can definitely do better here).

$20 on my starbucks drinks – now that we have our Nespresso I think I will be trying to treat myself on Fridays at home instead of getting Starbucks

$17 on subscriptions – I pay for Hayu and Spotify

$55 on my cell phone – I used to pay upwards of $70 when I was living in Windsor only because the reliable providers were very limited there. Since I’ve moved back to Toronto I have been with Freedom mobile and I have had zero issues!

I know this is sort of boring but I really do enjoy the reflection that is involved with writing these types of posts. I had a number of weak moments this month where I almost caved and just bought something but I am happy I didn’t and stayed with my plan of buying only essentials. Let me know if you are working on paying off a debt (student debt, car debt, a mortgage) and how you are managing with that journey!